Sec. 1. Statement of Applicability: These standards shall apply to instruments submitted for recordation which will be permanently retained by the circuit courts and to any volumes/papers used for recording permanent records in the circuit courts of the Commonwealth.

Sec. 2. Referenced Standards: This standard is intended to be used in conjunction with the following: The American Society for Testing and Materials D3290-81 "Standard Specifications for Bond and Ledger Papers for Permanent Records" and D3208-81 "Standard Specifications for Manifold Papers for Permanent Records" and American National Standards Institute ANSI Z39.49-1984 "Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials" and The Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry T 509 om-83, "Hydrogen Ion Concentration (pH) of Paper Extracts - Cold Extraction Method." When these standards are superseded by a revision, approved by the promulgating organization, the revision shall apply.

Sec. 3. Definitions:

3.1 Alkaline Reserve: The presence of a compound (e.g., calcium carbonate) put in the paper at a level sufficient to neutralize acid that might, in the future, be generated from aging of the paper or from atmospheric pollution.

3.2 Groundwood: Pulp produced by mechanically defibering wood without chemical cooking; such pulp contains many substances deleterious to the permanence of paper, notably lignin.

3.3 pH: The negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion activity in an aqueous solution or the logarithm of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion activity. Numerically expressed, pH 7 is neutral, lower numbers are acidic, higher numbers are alkaline. The concentration of the free hydrogen ions is expressed as an exponent, so the pH 4 is ten times more acidic than pH 5 and one hundred times more acidic than pH 6.

3.4 Permanence: For the purpose of this standard, permanence refers to paper that should last at least several hundred years without significant deterioration under normal use and storage conditions.

3.5 Uncoated: For the purpose of this standard, uncoated refers to paper that is composed of fiber plus fillers, sizing, dyes, and the like, but with no surface coating in excess of 2.5 pounds per side for every 500 sheets measuring 25 inches by 38 inches. Sec.

4. Minimum Requirements:

4.1 Uncoated permanent paper shall meet all of the following minimum requirements: